Few rookies have impacted the game as much as Fernando Valenzuela did in 1981.  An import from the Mexican league, Valenzuela was purchased by the Dodgers in the summer of 1979 and quickly earned his way up the organizations minor leagues, earning a spot in the parent clubs bullpen for a September call-up the following year.  He appeared in 10 games without giving up a run, and most importantly, yielded just 8 hits and struck out 16 versus 6 walks in his 17 innings.  The groundwork for what would become known as ‘fernandomania’ had been laid.

In his MLB rookie (and FBHOF rookie) season of 1981 Valenzuela lived up to all of the considerable hype surrounding him, taking home not just the Rookie of the Year Award, but the Cy Young Award too.  He was masterful for most of the playoffs as well (40.7 IP, 29 H, 26 K) and helped his Dodgers bring home a World Series title by defeating the New York Yankees 4 games to 2.

Due to the 1981 strike, Valenzuela made just 25 starts, but 11 of them were Complete Games, and incredible 8 of these were shutouts.  In all, he led the league in Innings Pitched, Strikeouts, Starts, Complete Games, and Shutouts all at the young age of 20.

Fenrandomania was upon the world of baseball from the moment he made his first major league start on April 9^th.  It was a complete game shutout of the Houston Astros, the team the Dodgers lost to in 1 game playoff the previous year.  He yielded just 5 hits and two walks in a tough fought 2-0 victory.

His 2^nd start was even better:  a 4 hit, 10 K complete game win over San Francisco (7-1).  If this weren’t enough, his third game was another complete game shutout, this time a 4 hit, no walk, 10 K two to nothing victory over division rival San Diego Padres.  Through May 14, Valenzuela won all 8 of his starts going 72 IP giving up just 42 H and 17 BB, while striking out 68.  His ERA was 0.50 and opponents were hitting an incredible .172 off him; his OPS against was a miniscule .437.

Valenzuela was actually close to average the rest of the year, winning 5 of 12 starts with a 3.66 ERA (league average was 3.91).  It really didn’t matter though.  His legacy was cemented in stone after starting the season with an unheard of 5 shutouts in his first seven starts.  He could do no wrong and the fans adored him.  

He did finish the season with a 1.85 ERA over his last 9 starts, assuring him the well-deserved voting awards.  From a Fantasy standpoint his final line of 13 W, 1.05 WHIP, 2.48 ERA, and 180 K earned him 14.7 FBHOF points, or about 5% better than Dwight Gooden’s 1984 campaign.

Here are the Top-10 Fantasy Rookie Seasons for pitchers:

Note:  The Fantasy Baseball Hall of Fame defines a rookie in a different manner than major league baseball.  Any batter who accumulates 100 at bats, or any pitcher that appears in at least 20 innings, is considered to have a FBHOF eligible season.  This isn’t needed to define a player’s initial year in the majors, rather, it’s the cut-off point for point accumulation.  Since most players with so few at bats or innings pitched usually have negative FBHOF points, a cut-off was needed so as to not terribly impact the career score of the players.  It seemed unfair to have a September call up for an 18 year old be detrimental.  Please keep this in mind as we look through the rookie history of fantasy baseball in the months to come – some years may not match the rookie status you’ve grown accustomed to.